The Impact of Vehicular Emission on Erythrocyte Level and Red Cell Indices of Occupationally Exposed Subjects in a Given City

Background: The association of combustive emission has been inter-related with haematologic parameters and a likelihood to pro-inflammatory state. This research is aimed at assessing the impact of vehicular emission on erythrocyte level and red cell indices of occupationally exposed subjects.

Methods: The level of haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, red blood cells, mean cell volume, mean cell haemoglobin, mean cell haemoglobin concentration, and red cell distribution width were determined in four hundred subjects with the aid of Mythic 22 haematology autoanalyser.

Results: The comparison of the haemoglobin and haematocrit shows that the value of mean ± standard error value of generator exposed and mechanics respectively were significantly higher than the other groups (p< 0.03). On the otherhand, the red blood cell count for generator exposed and mechanics ranked higher than the other groups (p< 0.03). The mean cell volume (MCV) of generator exposed and mechanics were 86.57±0.08 fl and 84.49±1.04 fl respectively while control and drivers had values of 93.24±1.13 fl and 93.22±1.13 fl respectively (p< 0.03). The mechanics recorded a mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) of 26.92±0.40 pg which was significantly lower (p< 0.04) than the control (30.37±0.47 pg), generator exposed (39.68±6.38 pg) and drivers (30.42±0.47 pg).

Conclusion: The differences amongst the groups and none of the groups were within the medically acceptable ranges which is a pointer to the fact that there might be an underlying inflammatory condition which might be due to occupational exposure.